Sudarshan Rangmanch: Shaping Creativity through Economic Compulsions

Transcription

1 Sudarshan Rangmanch: Shaping Creativity through Economic Compulsions Madhuri M.Dixit Pemraj Sarda College, Ahmednagar (affiliated to University of Pune) 'Natyam Bhinnanicher Janasya Bahudhapekyam Samaradhnam' (Performance of a play simultaneously satisfies people of varied tastes) -Ganadas in Malvikagnimitra by Kalidasa, Scene I (Embossed above the stage in Balgandharv Rangmandir, Pune) Marathi speakers are known to have a passion for plays. Marathi theatre for more than a century has been a major factor in making the cultural identity of Maharashtrians. Along with commercial theatre Maharashtra registers an equal growth of experimental theatre. It is generally assumed that the Marathi experimental theater is concentrated mainly in Mumbai and Pune though other less known towns like Aurangabad, Kolhapur, Nagpur, Sangli, Ahmednagar, Jalana, Nasik, and Solapur are also exercising their creativity but are not consistent in their efforts and rarely feature in the national scenario of experimental theatre. Experimental theatre and small groups complain that they can not afford to do theatre in conventional, established auditoriums because of large expenses involved and limited number of viewers resulting into financial losses. The small groups doing experimental theatre in Mumbai and Pune have been crying out for years for a good space to do theatre. On this background, for the last seven years in Pune, Sudarshan Rangmanch (SR) has originated as an accessible place for small groups in and out of Pune doing experimental theatre. Thus the rise of SR stems from economic crisis faced by small theatre groups, mainly in Pune. SR manifests a new mode of cultural production in the form of performing plays. The change in the way of presenting plays on stage in terms of reducing the space on stage, the number of equipments, number and nature of audience, rates of tickets, designs, durations and themes of the plays entitles SR to be called as a new mode of cultural production. One can see a culturally conditioned pattern in the scripts, styles and themes of the plays performed there. This paper proposes to examine closely the economic transactions animating and shaping SR performances, to analyze their scripts and styles and the tastes being shaped and cultivated by those plays. It presents its arguments by drawing upon Crang's ideas that the economic is embedded in the cultural, the economic is represented through cultural media of symbols, signs and discourses and cultural is seen as materialized in the economic [Gibson and Kong: 2005], coupling them with ideas of cultural production, creativity, and meaning making processes. This paper deals with three important issues: 1. How SR presents a new mode of cultural production. 2. What is the economics of the mode, how it is different from conventional theatre business, its characteristics, achievements and failures. 3. The resultant shaping of creative mode / cultural production of SR by driving economic forces. The methodology used consists of dialogue with founders of SR, performers, authors, theater critics and audience of the plays performed there, reports and reviews of SR activities in media and survey of commercial and parallel Marathi theatre in the last five years. Introduction: 1. What was happening on national scene? The post independence Indian Theatre is characterized bytwo phenomena. The firstisthat the senior directors like KM Panikkar, Habib Tanvir, B.V. Karanth and Ratan Thiyarn started approaching and interpreting the classics for the contemporary audiences in the early 70s and the being Sangeet Natak Akademi's scheme of granting production assistance to young directors for experimental productions. Meanwhile, the proscenium theatre was rejected by most of the directors, by violating its conventions while performing within it; as observed in attempting actors entrances and exits through the auditorium, actors speaking from their positions in the auditorium and enactment ofsome of the scenes in the auditorium. They used variety of performance spaces to bring about a closer relationship between the actors and spectators. On the national scene it was largely the theatre of ethnic narrative forms, music, dance and colour which is being experimental with, not the text-intensive plays characterizing Marathi theatre.

2 2. The Notion of Experimental in theatre: There are multiple view points about what constitutes an experimental play. Some people prefer to call it as parallel theatre; some say that the epithet- 'Experimental' to theatre is a description of the novel ways of contorting your body to catch the action! We realize that it is not a monolithic term. The term 'experimental has always meant an intimate theatre, low budget plays with non-commercial purpose, unpaid artists and rebellious spirit which questions the values, institutions, practices and the times we live in. Sometimes, after success of an experimental play, (e.g. Makadachya Hati Shamperi) on the commercial stage the question whether to call it experimental or not - emerges. For the co-coordinators of SR a play does not become experimental only because it symbolically uses a black backdrop. Theme and presentation should both count as parameters for being experimental. According to the playwright Satish Alekar since theatre is ultimately a form of storytelling, the audience does not like the flow of the play to be disturbed. Hence a play becomes experimental when the writer and director are ready to accept the risk of rupturing audiences' continued pleasure in the play or disturbing their normal perception and make them restless. This type of risk operates on two levels of theme and technique of the play. Innovations happen on both these levels; still it is possible that every innovation is not very striking, original and attractive. The writer and director would also take some time to identify the level of preparation of various types of audiences, their changing moods, meaning making processes and till then even parallel theatre could remain gaudy, aggressive, confused and bad [Alekar: 2QQ7J Eve during the 1970s, a renowned theatre critic K. Narayan Kale had questioned the purpose and intention behind the Marathi experimental theatre when he said that the value of experiment is not in its success or failure, but in the intention behind it. [Gokhale: 2000] 3. Marathi experimental theatre: The post Sangeet Rangbhumi phase of Marathi theatre can be thought of in two aspects-the mainstream theatre and the experimental theatre. Sometimes same individuals or groups actively working in both the theaters lead to their overlapping. From 1955 State competitions for plays began to be held throwing up much experimental potential in the form of new writers and directors. Progressive Dramatic Association, Theatre Academy, Avishkar, Maharashtriya Kalopasak Mandal, Pratyay, Prayog Parivar, Javalik, Aradhana, Samanvay etc. are some well known groups participating in them. Though Marathi theatergoers have patronized theatre so far, their absence as viewers of experimental theater seems paradoxical to their much acclaimed passion for theater. Ironically, the smaller the audience, the more convinced the groups were of being on the right path. [Gokhale: 2000] Even the office bearers of Akhil Bharatiya Marathi Natya Parishad 1, presidents of Natya Sammelan (Natya Parishads annual conference) are not known to be the viewers of experimental theater. In fact, experimental theatre artists are vis-à-vis never seen as a part of these main-stream bodies. Their requirement and demand for a separate place in Mumbai is continually overlooked by Natya Parishad. Focusing down on Pune, the shift from Progressive Dramatic Association (PDA) to Theatre Academy in 1970s is a significant indicator of the cultural ethos of contemporary Pune. Theatre Academy was formed by younger group of artists breaking away from PDA who wanted to produce the play which had its own share of controversy-ghashiram Kotwal (directed by Dr. Jabbar Patel). Their rebellious spirit was reflected in other productions like Satish Alekar's Mahanirvan, Mahapoor and Begam Barve. After these innovators gradually moved towards films and commercial theatre, there was a break in the experimental plays. On the whole, there was no productive activity even in other areas of cultural expressions. Several creative literary magazines stopped their publications or became very irregular and Marathi cinema also underwent a difficult period in the 1990s when not a single film was produced in The history of Marathi experimental theatre in Pune reveals a difficult period during Experimental theatre at that time was dwindling because of discouraging audiences and meager income but the youngsters wanted to do theatre. Director Atul Pethe's example is significant in this context. He says, "I didn't have a job; I had no money, and there was no theatre. I decided to leave Pune when the Open University job in Nasik turned up. With the job in hand and a new place to explore, I decided to set up my own theatre group....currently you can count on your fingers the number of groups doing serious theatre in the whole of Maharashtra. There's no money. If one manages, somehow, to get some, there's no audience. If one scrapes an audience together, one doesn't find a script..." [Ibid, pp!07] Genesis of Sudarshan Rangmanch: Pune's increasing population with its growing and changing economic profile fulfills its needs of entertainment in the form of plays performed on stage, through six auditoriums listed below: 1. Owned by Pune Municipal Corporation - Yashwantrao Chavan Natyagriha (Rothrud, 1000 seats); Balgandharv Rangmandir (Shivajinagar, 1000 seats); Ambedkar Bhavan Sanskrutik Hall (Near Railway Station, 450 seats)

3 2. Private ownership - Bharat Natyamandir (Sadashiv Peth, 600 seats), Tilak Smarak Mandir (Sadashiv Peth, 700 seats), Nehru Memorial Hall (Camp 400 seats) 3. University of Pune has an auditorium called Namdeo Sabhagfiha used by Department of Performing Arts students. Different colleges like Symbiosis and Fergusson have their own auditoriums being used for their own programmes. Though so many auditoriums are available, their high rent (of the order of Rs to 7000 per show) and lesser audiences, resulting into financial losses remain the main hurdles for small groups in staging a play there. The experimental theatre groups lacking any governmental support and help were never and are not in a financial position to pay rents. They can not get suitable dates easily. The experimental theatre groups were in search of a place for performances and rehearsals when Sneha Sadan a Christian Missionary Home in Narayan Peth (approximately half a k.m. away from SR) generously made their hall available (in 2000) to these groups. That hall was not an auditorium; naturally it lacked all the facilities required for doing stage. All the props were required to be taken to the hall. People, especially the young ones, flocked to the plays as there were no tickets. The audience was asked to donate voluntarily. Plays like Sathech Kaay Karaych? and Tyachya Prakhar Samajik Janivanche Nikhare, by Samanvaya group were really successful there. But the increasing response of people caused disturbance to the quiet religiousness of the place and prompted the father of the Christian home to stop the plays. Bharat Natya Mandir, another private auditorium planned a scheme to make the stage available at lower rates, but offered odd days and timings for the shows. Once again the groups started wandering in search of a doable place. Mrs. Shubhangi Damle and Dr.Ravindra Damle and who are presently the chief coordinator and secretary respectively of Maharashtra Cultural Center (MCC) 2 were close witnesses to the contemporary situation. They wore part of a family which was culturally active for years 3. They own a big building called Sudarshan Hall in Shaniwar Peth area (the central and more tradition bound locality compared with the other parts of the city of Pune), which used to be rented out as a Mangal Karyalaya, (i.e. a hall for marriages) since They also provided catering services in the same premise. As marriages occupy such halls only in specific months of the year, in the off season the Karyalaya was made available for rehearsals of plays participating in the state competitions. Naatya Darpan an organization in Pune, used to organize their play competition at the same place. Dr. Damale had started his hospital in the same place which he had willingly closed down in The place was again used as marriage hall, this time subcontracted to a professional. The Damales could have rented out the place to any other profession had it not been big enough to be unsuitable to a bank or office. [Godbole: 2007] Meanwhile MCC team won the first prize (1992, Babhul Ban) and 9 other awards in the State Drama Competition and decided to set up a project or a theatre group on the model ofavishkar, Mumbai. They thought of using Sudarshan Hall on rent. This space came up as an awaited relief, after Theatre Academy unfortunately lost the opportunity to build a permanent theatre 4. Some appropriate changes (costing lacs) were made in the Hall to install theatre facilities like lights, music and stage etc. Those who provided these facilities were also theatre lovers and sympathizers 5. Now the new theatre at Sudarshan Hall had three advantages location in the heart of city, basic infrastructure with lights and sound and facility of accommodation for outsiders. Amshkar, a well-established theatre group from Mumbai did 24 shows during the first year. It greatly helped in establishing the identity of Sudarshan Hall as a fit place to do good experimental theatre, Sudarshan Rangmanch: The three storied building (plate 1) of the hall is at a walking distance from the historical Shaniwarwada and Bal Gandharv Rangamandir, a famous auditorium in Pune. It comprises of an intimate theatre (plate 2), a rehearsal or multipurpose hall (plate 3), three small rooms (plate 4), a VIP suite, office space (plate 5) and a small parking area (plate 6)* Unlike Rangshankara Banglore, the place is without any cafe or book shop. Inaugurated in April, 2002 by Pt Satyadev Dubey and Sulabha Deshpande, SR is the auditorium on the first floor of the building.. It is said that the strength of theatre lies in being minimalist. The salient features of the Rangmanch are: 1)18 feet wide stage is fixed at a height of 8-9 inches from the level of the audience. 2) The total distance from the stage to the last row of audience would be approx. 30 feet, (plate 7) thus giving the audience an experience of an intimate theatre. 3)The equipments arebar lights (with a light room), a good music console, mouse and lapel mikes, black and white backdrops and some items like levels/ frames/ windows etc., tick-marking the list of all bare essentials for a-stage. 4) Except for special props, outsider groups do not need to bring anything. They get dormitory type of accommodation, if required, in the rehearsal hall. 5) The auditorium can seat maximum l50 people, with chairs on levels at the back and an open space near the stage with a durrie spread for sitting. Sudarshan Hall provides not only a stage but also a space as well as necessary facilities for music concerts, tuitions for dance and musical instruments, film shows, art exhibitions and other several activities like discussions, interviews etc. (plate 8). The activities of SR are taken to the audience through media sponsorship of Sakaaf. SR has witnessed workshops by eminent theater

4 personalities like Pt. Satyadev Dubey and Vijay Tendulkar. It is busy hub of theatre practitioners (especially young people) and culture academician. It opens up the world of plays for all the viewers at comparatively very cheap rates. SR is the manifestation of a novel idea of fitting a fully equipped theater in a space of an approximately thousand square feet marriage hall through the private initiative of the Damles. It is claimed to be the cheapest place to do theater and as such attract all amateur groups in and out of Pune. SR is a unique experiment of its type, perhaps the only one in the country. Manaswini L R. 9 lists the common characteristics of latest writing on stage as fragmented sentences, lack of dramatic events, no definite solution or end, need of time to explore more, incompleteness, etc. Regarding the choice of subjects she said that the playwrights were attracted by changes in relationships and their complexities. Referring to her own play Cigarettes 10 she observes that the standards of physical closeness keep on changing for each generation. If the context of an embrace shown on stage changes, people do not object; they always oppose thoughts and content. [Manaswini: 2007] Recently, Aniruddha Khutwad (Director, Mahapoor) has used the space quite innovatively at SR. While directing Mahapoor, he brought the stage in the middle of the auditorium and made the audience sit on both the sides; he did not use mikes. Paani (Director Samir Vidwans) had a continuous sound of flowing water, thus trying to transfer the audience to a different world. Matra Ratra used a screen for projection of the play simultaneously. 2.The audience: "The basic idea is that people compare themselves to some reference group when making consumption decisions, so that individual utility depends not only on the absolute level but also on the relative level of consumption." [Bruni and Stanca: 2007] SR has created a new audience or a new identity for committed and serious audience as well as innovative theater artists. Directors, actors and writers of plays performed on SR label the audience as 'knowledgeable. The audience and artists assume each other during the show. What does the audience comprise of? Mainly theatre practitioners, friends of the performers, students of drama and other invitees. Young audience is the important feature of SR. This audience dislikes mass appeal, it is described as having an ongoing demand for good plays [Khutwad: 2007], it is less in number, has a psychological need to be connected with immediate surroundings, wants to be committed, still is neutral and tries to safeguard itself from every harm [Manaswini: 2007]. SR cultivates their tastes for discussion plays having a philosophical bend. Entertainment, low rates of tickets, accessible venue, new experience, reputation of groups and even titles are listed as reasons of watching performances at SR by its regular audience. All these aspects of SR indicate that it has turned into a cultural capital in its plain and metaphorical meanings - as an asset as well as a resourceful movement. The problems: It is a fact that spaces which are built as theatres render different impact to a performance rather than spaces converted into theatres. The audience can disturb the actor more in SR as compared with the proscenium theatre (by keeping their mobiles on, commenting and laughing loudly) as they hardly sit away from the stage. A new actor faces a big problem of focusing her gaze while acting as looking at the audience means directly looking into their eyes since they almost encroach upon the stage. Since the scripts use no other variety of Marathi but the standard Marathi she will have to imbibe pronunciation specially if she comes from outside Pune and has regional influences on her language. At times the audience can see the actors perspiring which mars the make believe world of the play. For a director there are many adjustments of the set and entries and exits of actors. Entire team (if the number exceeds 5-6 people) can not stand in the wings due to lack of space. Lack of space on and off stage does not allow the artists to change costume or make-up fast and repetitively. Since the stage is not very high from the level of the audience, sitting positions of actors look very awkward. The height of the stage is very low hall being a marriage hall), as such tragedies don't stand any scope over there. Directors can not imagine to stage plays showing two story levels as the height of the stage is vary low (no structural changes were made while transforming the earlier marriage hall). Blocking 11 the stage has to be minimalist, it should not become an in the way of movements of actors. Some of the scenes with greater number of actors do not make any impact as they might have done on the proscenium stage. 12 Though intimate scenes come out very well there, loud sounds cannot be played even if the script demands that. There are four loud-speakers but they being very close to one another make it difficult for music arrangers to adjust the levels. The lights are not hung on sufficient height (structural problems) as such they generate a lot of heat. Not only that the coloured lights generate dark patches on the faces of actors. Actually the light is supposed to scatter down on the stage. Despite of these difficulties faced by the performers and audience in willing suspension of belief, SR has become popular over last five years. Newer groups also prefer to stage plays at SR, including the first shows.

5 The Choice of Sudarshan Rangmanch: The question-why Sudarshan Rangmanch is chosen in spite of multiple problems confining creativity- has some obvious reasons. One can see that SR encourages theater, particularly because many new plays are staged for the first time in SR. The directors, staging text and language based plays, expect an intensive dialogue happening in the mind of the audience assisted by the playwright's ideas and imagination. The limited space of SR is seen as a blessing to achieve this dialogue. Small stage lessens the worries of the director of plotting actions movements of characters to enliven the entire space on the stage. The number of props is also less thereby cutting down the show-wise cost In general, the young audience is habituated to media offering fragmentary images in the form of bites effectually loosing the stamina and patience to check several aspects of an idea, thought or issue. Being discussion plays, most of SR plays have created their audience by demanding enhancement of listening capacity. The playwright's pen is valued much more even without the help of any musical effects or pleasing sets. Thus low budget, geared up audience, limited caste and easy availability of space to perform makes SR a de facto choice. Working Economics as the main reason: A play is a production consumed by audience and hampered in the absence of monetary capital. As a production it is a team work engaging human creativity directed towards human happiness. It is also a cultural need and cultural identity projecting the essence of its native community. Several inputs from several people are put together to follow the goal of doing theatre. As Amin and Thrift [2004] say, "...the economy in all its spheres, from production and consumption to distribution, regulation and circulation, has to be seen as an act of many goals, from meeting material needs and making a profit or earning a living, through to seeking symbolic satisfaction, pleasure, and power. A bewildering array of inputs combines in pursuing these goals, ranging from money, things, knowledge, and buildings, to technologies, scripts, passions, and people, all of which have to be counted as part of the economic." 1. Organizational Setup: As 'company' is a technical and legal term meaning registered corporate entities with many limitations on receiving public money and hurdles of auditing budgets, theatre companies are more of an option rather than a common rule in case of India. Theatre activists choose to call themselves as groups working for not-for-profit goals. The government started registering such groups under Registration of Societies Act from 1957 so that they were allowed to receive public funds and private donations to acquire immovable property and their incomes were generally tax free. They could set their own levels of remuneration and in case profit was made it was to get back to the organization. The Marathi experimental theatre in Pune is also characterized by such groups-samanvya, MCC, Jagar, Parichay, Asakt, PDA etc. They have strong identities; most of the times, people come to see a new play recognizing the play not by the writer but by the group. Since small groups do theatre simply because they love to do it there is always a paucity of funds for staging a play. The expenses are often taken care of by some generous members. As Satish Alekar pointed out situation in Maharashtra and India in general has become difficult due to lack of government or local municipality support like the subsidized theatre we see in Western countries. It depends on the public will to spend for such an activity, or upon the corporate sponsors. The actors should be paid, however minimal to boost the theatre activity. Government has provided such support to multiplex theatres. They have tax exemption for five years from the date of their commencement. [Alekar: 2007] 2. Formation of groups: Usually like minded people come together to form a group but a small glimpse at history tells us that people have moved from one group to the other frequently. This is also taken to be an indicator of healthy environment. Sandesh Kulkarniseparated from Jagar (led by Madhav Vaze) and formed a new theatre group called Samanvay after they had some difference of opinion over 'Kovalee Unhe' (The mild sun-shine by Tendulkar). 13 Presently, the youngsters with MCC and other groups in Pune are collegiate (most of them admitted in Fergusson or Brihan Maharashtra College of Commerce), they come from suburban areas of Pune like Hadapsar and Pimpari-Chinchwad. Some of the artists belong to other towns like Narsobachi Wadi (Sangali district), Kolhapur and Baramati etc. who come to study in Pune [Damale: 2007]. Many of the students of the Department of Performing Arts in the University of Pune have joined various groups and have come from far away places like Amravati. Staying in Pune itself is very expensive so these youngsters need sponsors for doing theater.

6 Atul Pethe's narration about the formation, requirements and survival of his own group in contemporary times can be taken as a representative voice Occupaticms of performers: Theatre practitioners are genially well placed people with good education. Some people started their own editing set-ups, slowly developed them into firms and eventually established successfully in Pune. Following table shows professions of some of the key players at SR. Table 1: Occupations of performers Name Group/Participation as Profession/educational qualification Atul Pethe Prayog/Atal Pthe Productions/Director/Actor Lecturer/ Production House Kiran Yadnyopavit Samanvaya^Director/Actor Software Engineer MohitTakalkar Asakta/Director Professional Editor (Ek Kahani Serial), S andesh Kulkarni Samanvay/Wector/Actor Earlier a Lecturer Makarand Sathe Playwright Architect Shrirang Godbole Playwright Indian Magic Eye (production house) Dr. RavindraDamale MCC/Secretary Doctor Dr. Mandar Joglekar Atharva theatres/director Doctor Dr.VivekBele MCC/Playwright/Actor Member, MCC Mrs. Shubhangi Damale MCC/Actor Chief Co-ordinator (MCC) Madhav Vaze Jagar/Director/Critic Lecturer (retired) The circumstances that enforce alternative arrangements on these people to earn their livelihoods is encapsulated in these words; "The Indian psyche is perhaps subconsciously uncomfortable with the idea of paid theater; consequently, even the most talented actors, excellent directors and brilliant playwrights have had, out of necessity, to turn to other professions to earn a living - office jobs, teaching in colleges and universities, businesses, government positions or in television and film which provide steady income to support themselves and their style of life." [Rubin et.al: 1998] 4. The production cost: "Did the reason for the poor visual quality of Marathi plays lie outside the theater proper, involving the moral opprobrium associated with sensuous enjoyment, or was it simply the effect of the theater's state of impoverishment?" - Panhala Seminar 15 [Gokhale:2000] It is true that Marathi Theatre is not very famous for its spectacle or directorial innovation The experimental theatre is more hampered on this visual of the play depends on monetary strength of the performers. A play normally takes one and a half month of rehearsing till the first performance. Many of the groups find a sponsor for their shows. Some groups are naturally in a better financial owing to their settled members. All the groups agree that they could afford a budget of Rs. 10, 000 to 15,000 to set up a play. The director, playwright, actors, designers do not receive any remuneration in any form. Since Sakaal advertises for plays at SR at concessional rates, the groups can cut down on marketing costs (leaflets, posters, postage, merchandising etc). Since most of the groups do net follow any rigid organizational form they save administration costs like audit fee, telephone bill, bank charges, insurance etc. The receipts include only box office receipts and sponsorship, there are no grants or other type of income like catering receipts etc. Coupons of 'building fund' are given as tickets to evade taxes. Recently SR has also received a proposal to air condition the entire hall. But the trust is giving it a second thought as once the A/C is installed there will be expenditure of electricity bills and that would mean increase in rent which will ultimately burden the viewers. Following chart sketches various anticipated u expenses inclining for staging a play at SR.

7 Table 2: Budget of a Typical Play at SR Item Expenses (Rs) At Sudarshan Details Other theatres approx. charges (Rs) Rent (hall) 1800 Rs.600/3 hrs, Rs.1000 advance 5000 Rent (rooms for 25 Rs.25/room/hour N.A. stay) Snacks/tea etc 1000 Including N.A. rehearsals expenses Transport 500 As per As per requirement requirement Lights 250 (including RS.25/spot 50/ spot (dimmers extra) dimmers) Music mikes Other props 1000 approx. As per Levels are charged extra (levels requirement License fees 5007 show Police 500/ show permission Total ~ Excluding transport, snacks ~ Taking into consideration the full capacity of SR, a group can collect a maximum of Rs through sale of tickets for one show while other halls, if packed to the capacity can fetch a maximum of to per show. Clearly, performing at SR is not a profit making venture. This scenario is not confined only to Pune. To put it in Rubin et.al s words again "Perhaps the biggest problem now facing theatre artists in India, as it has been for the decades since independence, is that theater in India has, by and large, failed to be a means of earning a living for playwrights, directors, actors, critics and technicians. This is the most fundamental and inescapable fact about modern Indian theater and one that is sadly and universally lamented by almost everyone working in it The viability of theater as a profession, a means of earning a living and making a profit, are minimal Most groups barely cover their costs through ticket sales and advertisements in brochures; producers and directors have to rely on grants and subsidies from the government, from western agencies (like UNICEF and the Ford Foundation), from corporate sponsorship (also minimal), as well as engage in other profession to fund their projects and [Robin et al : 1998} Discussion and Analysis : 1. Alienated Audience: The primary concern of theatre as a public art is communication with the audience. It pushes the audience to reflect on what the author has said or is trying to say. Brecht s idea of complex seeing and thinking above the flow of the play is significant in case of SR plays as the directors and playwrights have expected the audience to be more knowledgeable and serious about plays. The audience is expected to be equipped to understand references like Salvador Dali's painting of a clock, Mozart's symphonies (Charshe Koti Visarbhole) or Einstein's fourth dimension (Je Pudhe Gele) flowing through the script or used in stage symbolism. The audience can not figure out at times the familiar into the unfamiliar shown on stage. The audiences on the other hand seem not to be vary happy with the discussions; monologues and absurdist bend of the plays. [Jogalekan 2007], The reason why Marathi Theatre does not travel well beyond Marathi speakers' world is that the text based plays put heavy emphasis on language. Plays at SR use standard (read Puneri) Marathi mixed with English without exception, despite different backgrounds of characters. Language can be a tool of discrimination, useful in emphasizing personal rather than social perception and response, to introduce a form of privacy within a collective experience. Neither the characters nor the actors show their origins out of a particular social milieu.

8 The media partner of SR, Sakaal is known for its middle class appeal. Though SR charges minimum rates it is not known beyond a part of readership of Sakaal. Even less established groups acknowledge the difficulties in understanding some of the absurd plays. On the whole, the audience is repetitive and shares the same background as that of the performers. 2. Cultural Space: There seems to be a certain apparently invisible cultural politics going on underneath in the 'cultural spaces of Pune. The Ambedkar Bhavan Sanskrutik Hall located near the railway station of Pune was constructed before 10 years as an outcome of the lead taken by a local representative- Mr, Raju Shetti. But Puneites turned their backs on it. The hall charges are less (Rs.1600 per show) than all the other PMC auditoriums (Rs.5000 per show) with a capacity of 450 seats. The tickets are priced somewhere between Rs Though every theatre practitioner accepts the facility and construction of Ambedkar Hall to be useful for staging plays for smaller audiences, they don't feel up to it. When asked Puneites readily give false reasons like non-availability of parking space (surprisingly, even smaller parking space of SR is not even mentioned) and distance from the Pethas (central parts) of Pune. Right from the name of the hall to the residents of the locality, everything carries a mark of rejection. So far it has always been used for Gayan Parties, Jalasas and programmes by commited Dalit groups like Kabir Kala Manch or Kranti Natya Manch. Till date the experimental groups from Pune have kept themselves away from performing there. Cocooning of the groups has created cultural segregation as far as places of performances are concerned. 3. Conditioning: The history of experimental theatre in Pune bears evidence to the fact that people have not given up doing theatre in one or the other form. They have waited to get a place and funds. As soon as suitable conditions emerge plays are staged. Why has SR been possible? There was a space available in the central part of the city thus facilitating transport. The owners happened to be office bearers of MCC. The hall could be turned into an intimate theatre by spending an affordable amount Technology made it possible to fit in all the portable, non-portable equipments. The hall could only accommodate a few 'interested people thus limiting the kind of audience to a 'knowledgeable' few. The attending audience along with the stage conditions shaped the nature, theme, length of plays being performed. The plays got transformed into discussion plays, discussing an urban (read Puneite) perspective of looking at complexities of meanings of human existence. The upper caste theatre practitioners 17 are well-educated, many of them having a source of income independent of theatre activity, a strong commitment to doing theatre and able to get a few sponsors to gather a few thousand of rupees. The period after 1990s demands efficiency and productivity, not being rebellious or experimenting like the SOs phase of experimental theatre. It did not take any cognizance of Dalit Rangbhumi which was a major tradition in Marathi Theatre. Unpredictability, fragmentation, complexities of identities solely on individual level and understood through subjective experience, etc. are mainly the thanes of post 1990 s generations. But these themes do not get developed by relying on playwrights' intuition alone. They need a continued interaction with current publications, discussions, art exihibitions and serious cinema, conducive of every bit of Pune's academic, cultural scenario. That itself explains the class and conditioning of the writers and directors. 4. Style of presentation: Though SR also claims new or at least renewed understandings of theatre, it is not reflected at least in styles of presentations. Labelled as experimental, the plays at SR do not seem to take any trouble to reveal innovative attempts in background music, spectacle, colours, props or design of bodies on stage. The actors pour their energy into their dialogues neglecting body language leaving the spectacle poor. Plenty of times the experience becomes a listening to the play rather than watching it SR as an intimate stage (plate 10) does not leave the pictorial frame of the proscenium and as such fails to render a completely different experience. 18 Conclusion:

9 If theatre is to give us deeper understanding of the times we are living in, the site of creativity in theatrical attempts is worth attending. How are we to understand creativity? a combination of the familiar and the unfamiliar, bunts of innovations, etc. all together generating a different-ness that catches our attention? The process of creativity assumes meaning making of the surroundings by the author first thereby making ft inherently a matter of cultural, political and economic interests of the author. Language-creation and meaning -making in postmodern theatre is never a simple one-to-one correspondence mode of cognition. The composition, reach and influence of the plays staged in SR do not transcend the consciousness of a handful of influential people powerful in their own ways including social, political and economic power. They are assertive about the significance of the questions of identity and social reactions as they feel them. Their thanes are found to be revolving in the same sphere using the larger reality as a chain of supply of contemporary events used as references but not affecting their lives directly, be it suicides committed by farmers in Vidarbha region of Maharashtra or long power cuts experienced all over the state except Mumbai and Pune. New playwrights like Manaswini feel that talking about social issues does not generate interest the exercise amounts to repeating the information supplied by the 24 hour media. They describe their themes as a search for occurring in human relations. The search for devastating changes in human they portray is situated in urban and metropolitan milieu. Are human relations not changing anywhere else? There are further issues escaping the attention of these new writers, like globalization, changing relations between society and the state, environmental degradations, widening gap between education and employment opportunities, property prices affecting the lives of ordinary people in the city... all these are very, very urban issues. The questions of what theatre should show do not arise here. Instead the question is-should contemporary society and times reflect in our plays or not? Whose times and society they should be? Should the theatre that we are doing be any different from the one our predecessors did and in what ways? Why are the playwrights living with a sensitivity turns increasingly introvert? It is assumed that writers could not be questioned regarding their choice of subjects. True, but why all of them are thinking about relationships (most of than in physical forms, e.g. Maim Ratra, Cirgarettes f Chotyashya Suttit) and minute variations in them? 1 Authors with rich experience and different backgrounds (Dalit for example) are not an exception to this. 2 Does thinking about relations through the medium of drama satisfy a pseudo sense of resolving or at least elaborating the problems in real life in a metropolitan city like Pune? Particularly when the audience and the playwright belong to the same social group? Playwrights expectations from the audience to sit patiently through all the ups and downs of emotional upheavals of their characters and identify and with their value system elaborate on the socio-economic profiles of the audience, 1 is because the writers and directors are unable to show possibilities of dialogue even on the symbolic level of their characters. Technology has a lion's share in the burst of innovations ushering new modes of cultural productions in the 20th century. Technological innovations value the idea of portability so much that it has become the characterizing feature of all new appliances. SR as an intimate space follows the idea of portability not only in terms of space but also in terms of number of equipments and audience, rates of tickets, designs, durations and themes of the plays. Most importantly it characterizes the perspective of theatre artists, organizers and audiences. SR invites us to rethink the dynamics of different spheres of the economy (e.g. production, consumption, or regulation) or specific aspects of economic purpose of cultural activities (e.g. innovation) and individual positioning within them. More exploration is definitely needed to develop deeper understanding of these dimensions. What does theatre as an economy change? What has SR changed? What counts as the economic and what drives it create a complex picture where all elements are important Still in the case of SR, the veil of economic compulsions covers the cultural expressions of socially most powerful category of people. Their need to be connected with surroundings aired by so many contemporary actors, directors, playwrights and critics, in the first place underlines their broken links with the larger reality. It is sufficiently clear that only cheaper rent or cheaper tickets do not draw actors and viewers to SR. Working economics behind all their theatrical activities does not explain or justify their creativity. Their choices of themes, styles and locations do not arise from economic needs but from appropriating available opportunities.

10 End Notes: L Akhil Bharatiya Natya Parishad- An old main stream body for the uplift of Marathi plays. 2. Maharashtra Cultural Centre is a 42 year old public trust (established 1965) dedicated to promoting cultural and educational activities. The history of SR is in a way the history of the trust because their office bearers and people running the organization are the same. The activities of the trust used to be limited in the initial years due to paucity of funds and usually were of the type of organizing a programme of music once in a year. In those days, as there were no TV channels overspreading cultural activities, plays were given priority. In 1992, the members of the trust decided to participate for the first time in a collaborative manner in State Drama competition. Encouraged by the prizes and responses the trust did seven plays(babhul Ban, Bandgul, Chocolatewala Baba, Eka Prembhangacha Abhanga {recently made into a film- Kadachit}, Sangeet Namunyadakhal, etc) comprising the new as well as the old type of plays. Now the members proudly say that you would not find a single actor who is from Pune (like Nikhil Ratnaparakhi, Radhika Harshe, Ananda Ingale et al) and presently active in films or on stage, not related to MCC. They were all 'houshi kalakar, i.e. amateur theatre actors. They took a big patch of land from Town Hall Committee in Hira Baug on a lease of 99 years and built three buildings called Udyog Bhavan on the land. These buildings were rented out assuring a regular income which the trust decided to utilize in the form of a charitable fund for promoting performances of various types. SR is one of their main activities, alongside musical concerts, theatre workshops, film club, art gallery, children's theatre instrument and dance tuitions etc. all happening in Sudarshan hall and at Hira Baug, Tilak road though the latter is partially under construction. Sudarshan has plans for offering scholarship to theatre practitioners and artists; it has plans for building stage (100x60 ft) at the Hirabaug address. As the trust promotes educational activities there is a film circle and an art gallery taken care by Madhuri Purandare (artist). Other art galleries are located in very elite areas charging high rent to the artists who wish to showcase their work. They also have connections with the middlemen who buy and sale paintings and it is observed that the galleries benefit more than the artists in such transactions. The trust is aware of all such tricks of the trade and keeps away from them intentionally. After taking roots the trust with the initiative taken by Dr. Mohan Agashe (Now President of the trust), started doing Grips theatre (the world famous children's theatre from Germany) in Pune from Earlier Theatre Academy used to perform them. These plays became immensely popular and the group won intercontinental acclaim for their dedication to theatre. All activities were run from a small office space on Tilak road MCC has been awarded "Organization for Notable work in Amateur Theatre activity in 2005 by Sahitya Sangh Mandir Mumbai 3. Dn Ravindra Damale f s family was associated with MCC right from the beginning. The entire family was culturally very active and its members like Mr, Sudhir Damale were closely related to Marathi theatre right from the Chabildas Movement. Sudhir organized Natya Darpan Rajani ( ). Interestingly, as a journalist, he sided with Shiv Sena to oppose the foreign tour of the famous play, Ghashiram Kotwal by Vijay Tendulkar. 4. Theater academy was offered some land near Himali Society, Erandwana, (one of the most posh localities of Pune) by Pune Municipal Corporation, way back in It refused the land as it was closer to a flood prone zone and demanded another place in front of S.N.D.T College on Karve road. They could neither get the place they demanded for nor could keep the claim on the place they were offered. [More: 2006] 5. The Damles themselves spent from their pocket for the lights. Mr, Bendre bought the music system and now he rents it out for all performances. Mr. Bhave painted the auditorium. Mr. Muttha supplied timber for constructing the stage, etc. A production company, called Manoranjan supplied other material in one third of regular charges. 6. Sakaal is the most popular local news paper in the middle class in Pune which has offered media sponsorship to SR. It advertises SR programmes at subsidized rates. 7. As technical term in Social Science, it is a regular and continuously repeated social practice; includes language, moral and cultural practices. [Edgar and Sedgwick:2002]. (Shubkangi Damale calls SR a sanstka in Marathi which translates to institute in English.)

11 8. Immortal mythological characters from Ramayana and Mahabharata respectively. The play was first staged in When it was performed at SR in December 2007, it used the thrust stage leading to an apparent encroachment of audience on the stage. I wonder if it disturbed the actors' concentration. 9. Vijay Tendulkar's words - Manaswini is an important playwright in Marathi... There are plenty of Marathi plays in the past and present, plenty of playwrights but there is almost no female writer who writes an independent and effective play. 10. Cigarettes, written by Manaswini, invited a lot of controversy as it staged physical relationships explicitly and portrayed 'degraded' morality in a realistic manner. SR, after receiving threats from the right wing, denied permission to the performance after merely one show. In spite of similar threats, the Department of Performing Arts, Pune University headed by Prof. Satish Alekar supported its alumni, Manaswini and all the other shows of Cigarettes in Pune were staged atnamdeo Sabhagriah. [Manaswini: 2007, Alekar: 2007] 11. Blocking means predetermining the configurations of bodies on stage both to create visual patterns and to emblemize relationships. 12. Anil Kamble, presently a teacher associate in the Performing Arts Department of University of Pune narrated his experience of performing his play Pandurang Sangvikarchya Kavita at SR, based on Bhalchandra Nemade 's writing. The performance was selected for the 10 th National Festival held at Nehru Centre Mumbai in In the last and important scene all the selves of Pandurang acted out by different people stand on the stage in a single file. The sight of all of them standing in a row was a failure on Sudarshan stage as it crowded the stage completely. On the other hand it gave an impression of a big canvas in the Namdeo Sabhagrih which had prompted applause. pcamble: 2007] Same type of scenes in Sandesh Kulkarni 's Ramprahar suffered equally. 13. The core group of Samanvay (Sandesh Kulkarni, Shashank Shende, Kiran Yadnyopavit, Harshavardhan Vedpathak, Nikhil Ratnaparkhi, Amruta Subhash, Sonali Kulkarni etc.) remained intact for 6-7 years, from 1993 till Their important productions were Sathecha Kay Karycha?, Kovli Unhe f Tyachya Prakhar Samajik Janivanche Nikhare, and Mitradvay: Arthat Sangeet Satva Pariksha (based on an excerpt from Don Quixote). 14. In Atul's own words - "I wasn't asking for much- an indoor space at a reasonable rent, for rehearsals and performance. Ten spots, four dimmers, a black backdrop and four wings. One durrie for an audience of about hundred people to sit on, and a small tea stall outside as a bonus for those who wanted to be part of the playreadings, discussions, slide-shows, exhibitions, video films and other such things I dreamt of organizing to create a conducing environment for theatre...what we wanted most to guard against was complacency. It was important to constantly disturb ourselves, concern ourselves, provoke ourselves. The group would stay together because it was a vital part of every member's life. We had no office bearers, no formal structure, and no bank balance... That is how the group is even today. When we decide to do a play, we raise whatever money we need for it We make up the shortfall with contribution from our own pockets [Gokhale: 2000] 15. Aided by Ford Foundation in 1993, a 3-days seminar (29-31 Aug) of directors and playwrights under the of aegis of Theatre Academy, Pune and Pratyay, Kolhapur was held at Panhala, a hill station in Kolhapur district This seminar aimed at taking a review of Marathi contemporary theater and was in lime-light for long due to the debates it initiated. 16. Till the final draft of this paper I could not get any real bills or receipts of any show after repeated requests for the reasons that people who worked as treasurers were too busy and small groups do not have regularized accounts. 17. If one looks at the surnames of performers at SR, the caste segregation is evident. 18. The Goa Hindu Association had a real intimate theatre at Panaji (now demolished to give way to International Film Festival's needs). It was a box like structure with only one entrance/exit. Other intimate theatres like Prithvi or Rangshankara are originally built as theatres, hence the difference in the quality of experience of the audience. 19. Rajkumar Jangade, a theater artist from Vidarbha gave a representative comment "Guys, do you have any problems about sex in Murnbai and Pune? All your plays talk about that while the plays we do talk about power cuts, farmers, suicides etc. It makes me think that perhaps you have some problem about sex in your part of the world? [Vaidya: 2007] 20. Unlike the earlier generation the new playwrights even from Dalit background do not show any disturbance or concern about issues like caste in changing times or low living. [Alekan2007] Details of photographs (Plates) :